Artichokes, an Old World food, came to America with Italian immigrants and found a
happy home in the near-Mediterranean climate of California. As "ethnic" fare, artichokes
took their time catching on outside the Golden State. They finally did in the thirties and
became something of a fad. Artichokes were not limited to the vegetable course, either.
Sometimes the center "choke" was scooped out and the hollow filled with a stuffing for a
fashionable light lunch entrιe.